Wood block



June 2,1931. J, A, LEE 1,808,667-

WOOD BLOCK Fi led Oct. 4, 1930 I I l gmntoa JZbnzfLLee,

Pumice June 2, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT mm V I JOHN A. LEE, OF MEMPHIS, TENNIBSEE, ASSIGNOR T0 E. L'BRUCE COMPANY, 0]

W318, TENNESSEE, A QORPORATION OF DELAWARE woon nnocx Application m October 4,

My invention relates to wood block floor-v ingand one of the objects is to fabricate a wood block from a plurality of strips, that v will retain its shape and that can be manu- 5 factured cheaply.

. In the application of C. W. Allen, Serial' I Number 351,435 filed March 30, 1929, there is disclosed a wood block made .from short pieces of flooring securely bound together by 1 a metal tie fitting in registering grooves the underside of the strips. In cutting this groove in the underside of the strips the depth of the groove is suchthat it cuts in two the under lip of the longitudinal groove on 15 the edge of the block, thereby weakening and I causing breakage of this lower li 4 One of the objects is to so cut t e groove in the underside of the block that it will not cut through the lower lip of the longitudinal I0 groove on the. edge of the block.

. Referring to the drawings for a more complete disclosure of the invention,

. Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view of a block Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of fig. 2 1, and

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1. Flooring strips as customarily made have a groove 11 along one edge and a tongue 12 along the opposite edge. The flooring strips to 13, 14 and 15 are first cut to the same length and then passed through a machine that simultaneously cuts a oove 16 in one end and a tongue 17 on the ot er end, across the grain,

1930. Serial mesons.

on the underside, are pressed to etherand the metal tie 21, made of cold rol ed steel, is flattened out to bring its edges into suflicientlytight contact with the sides of the groove 18 so as to hold the strips rigidly in assembled relationship. I

In the smaller sizes of blocks, a sin le tie and groove on the underside will be su cient but with the lar er sizes more than one tie and oove may e used.

I c aim:

1. A block comprising a plurality of strips of wood, having a. transverse groove-in its underside, a fastening device in the said lip of the longitudinal groove. y

2. A block avin a transverse groove; in

lock at right angles to the transverse its underside, a longitudinal groove along the edge of the block, the transverse in relatively shallow adjacent t e undersi e of the longitudinal groove to avoid oove be-- weakening the under lip of the longitudinal groove.

Intestimonygwhereof Iaflix m si' ature. JO. A. EE.

and a groove 18 in the back of the strip. The

tongue and grooves may be cut b rotary cutter-heads operating on each en and-in the I center of the strip simultaneously;

Heretofore the groove 18 has been cut across the backs of all the strips to a uniform depth. This resulted in cutting in two the lower lip 19 of the groove 20, thereb weakening it and causing excessive brea age of the lower lip. d

In order to avoid this breakage of the lower li the groove '18 is shallower at the point 21w ere it cuts into the lower lip 19 thereby making a much stronger lower hp. x The several pieces of wood 13, Hand 15, having been sawed to the desired length and 50 tongued and grooved at the ends and grooved 

